This invention relates to a vehicle door clamping mechanism and more particularly to a clamping mechanism for use by law enforcement officers to secure a front vehicle door in the closed position while interviewing a suspect seated in the vehicle.
In most situations, law enforcement officers do not know if a person pulled over for a traffic violation has a criminal record. The officer must approach the stopped vehicle with caution. While an officer can assume that every driver he stops is potentially dangerous, he cannot treat every citizen as though he were a wanted criminal. Thus, an officer must be alert to circumstances calling for quick action when approaching a vehicle, but he should not restrain a citizen without cause.
When an officer approaches a vehicle after requiring it to stop, preferred procedures call for the driver to remain in the vehicle and communicate with the officer through the driver's window. As the officer approaches the car to speak with the driver, he reaches a position where, if the driver's door were suddenly thrust open, the officer would be hit by the door. In order to prevent this from happening, an officer needs a device capable of securing the vehicle door in the closed position. Furthermore, the device must be such that the officer can use it with one hand (the hand not used to draw his or her weapon) and before he enters the dangerous area where the door would hit the officer. In addition, the device should be such that it can be applied to the vehicle quickly, and without damage to the vehicle. Once attached, the device must be in place securely, in a manner that makes it difficult for the driver to remove it. However, the device must also be such that the officer can remove it easily as soon as the officer is convinced that there is no danger.
I contacted 150 Mississippi law enforcement officers and asked each whether he would use a device with the characteristics described above. 149 said that they would, even if they had to purchase it themselves. Every officer stated that they considered an unsecured vehicle door to be a substantial threat to their safety when they approached a stopped vehicle. Some cited specific instances where they believed that fellow officers had been seriously injured or lost their lives after being suddenly hit with a vehicle door. They also pointed out that a suspect secured inside his vehicle cannot run away on foot. The most common comment from these officers was that they needed a way to gain 3 to 5 seconds during the period when a suspect began taking aggressive action, and that this device would provide them with that time. The officers also concluded that eliminating the suspect's ability to escape or take aggressive action with the car door, without diminishing the officer's ability to draw her or his weapon, would save officers' lives, perhaps their own.